Chapter 15
VICTOR
Victor had come to check on Lizzy during a lull in service.
When he found her bed empty, panic had settled in.
He knew it was desperate, and maybe a little obsessive, but he went looking for her.
It was a small town, and her car was still parked in the driveway, so he knew she hadn’t gone far.
She’d been acting strange since the night before.
Up until the call with her mom, everything had seemed to be going well.
His gut told him she was keeping things from him.
And here she was, eyes wide, staring at him as he entered as if she’d been caught in the act. The guy across from her was a greasy-looking white boy, with a bad grown-out haircut and a stained white T-shirt.
The moment he’d seen her, he should have walked away.
The carefully crafted persona would have.
The model citizen, the easygoing boss, the Pumpkin Hollow committee member, but he felt his mask crumbling.
The thin veneer of perceived perfection was crumbling.
Even though his desire to be perfect screamed at him to turn around, he kept moving.
He’d thought he could convince her to stay, that his perfection would sway her, but she wasn’t ever his.
She’d given him this month. Less than that.
They had a little over a week left. He had no claim to her, but the desire to claim her was burning in his belly, and it was taking all his self-control not to walk over there, yank her out of her seat, and drag her back to the house.
No matter who was watching or how they’d gossip.
She wasn’t his to claim. Even if he badly wanted her to be.
Instead of walking away, as would be the sensible and normal thing to do, he walked up to the counter.
Goldie, the owner, smiled at him. “Usual black coffee?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Lucian, the local handyman, was hovering by the counter. “How’s the diner? Anything else fall apart?”
“I’m keeping it together with duct tape and twine at this point,” Victor said, though his gaze kept sliding over to Lizzy as if they were magnetized. He smiled at her, more casually than he actually felt. She shook her head very slightly. And his stomach heaved.
Lucian laughed, oblivious to his silent exchange with Lizzy. “I bet. Well, next time something breaks, give me a call.”
“Oh, I will.”
Victor’s order came up, and he grabbed it off the counter with a thanks to Goldie and a goodbye to Lucian. He swept his eyes over the room, fighting the urge to stay until he heard the scumbag ask her to marry him.
Common sense had gone completely out the window now. He took a seat across the room from them. Where he could make eye contact with Lizzy and watch the sleazeball she was with and hear her answer clearly.
“You still haven’t answered my proposal,” the scumbag said.
“It was an insane ask, Steven. Let’s be done with this,” she said.
Relief rushed through Victor, but the possessive only intensified.
“I know I messed up, but that’s what I love about you. You’re always willing to forgive.”
“Not this.” Her tone was final. Her arms were crossed as she talked to the guy, but her gaze kept flicking up to Victor.
This guy had to be her ex-boyfriend, the one she’d briefly mentioned.
He reached across the table to touch her, and she recoiled from him. Victor was rather proud of her.
“You’re being a bitch for no reason, Lizzy. I said I was sorry.” He said it loudly enough that the entire café could hear. Heads swiveled in their direction, and her face flushed.
Victor stood, hands fisted at his side, but Lizzy looked at him and raised her palm to stop him.
“I’m done with this conversation.” Lizzy got to her feet and walked out without another look in Victor’s direction.
Her ex-boyfriend motioned to follow her, but Victor grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him.
“I think you should leave her alone,” Victor said.
“This is between me and my girlfriend.” Steven shrugged out of Victor’s grip.
The word sent a fizzle of anger through him. “She’s not your girlfriend,” Victor seethed.
Steven looked taken aback by his declaration.
And then his eyes widened. “I’m guessing you’re the new guy she’s fucking? She moved on quick and to a monster? God, she really downgraded. This is a new low even for her.”
Victor had been called a lot of things in his life—monster, freak, abomination.
On a good day, he let it roll off his back.
But coming from this pond scum, it only raised his anger.
“Say what you want about me, but keep Lizzy’s name out of your mouth,” Victor said between clenched teeth.
His control was unraveling. People were staring. He felt their gazes burning into him.
“I’ll say what I want. I fucking knew she couldn’t stay single for long. She jumps from man to man, you know. Is she shacking up with you, too? God, she’s pathetic.”
Victor’s control snapped, and he slugged Steven hard in the face.
Steven went flying backwards, crashing into a coven of four witches who lived at the Cathedral down the street, who were seated at one of the round tables.
They stood up and stepped away from Steven as if he were a fresh turd that’d fallen into their midst. But the rest of the café was staring at Victor wide-eyed.
They’d seen the ugly side of him, the part he wanted to keep hidden.
They weren’t supposed to see anything but the perfect facade he showed them all.
“Is anyone going to help me up?” Steven asked the room.
The coven merely shook their heads and shuffled over to the next table.
Lizzy came rushing back in and grabbed Victor by the arm before he could attack her dirtbag ex again.
“Steven, leave,” she said.
“Or I’ll throw you out of town myself,” Victor snarled.
“Victor, stop,” Lizzy said in a tired tone.
His anger faded as Steven climbed to his feet and slunk away.
“Sorry, Goldie!” Lizzy said before guiding Victor out of the café by the arm.
As soon as they were on the sidewalk, she let go of him and walked towards the house without a word.
He followed behind her, like a lost puppy.
From the tense set of her shoulders, he knew she was angry with him, but he didn’t know what to say in his defense.
He wasn’t sorry for punching the guy. He’d deserved it.
Given the chance, he’d do it again. But he hated her seeing him that way.
Seeing his sloppy side was one thing. Knowing he wasn’t perfect wasn’t the same thing as being confronted with the reality of it firsthand.
He needed to walk it back, to show her he could be everything she wanted if she just gave him the chance.
They reached the front step of the house, and finally she turned to face him and said, “Victor, we need to talk.”